Engineering Commons^™

Face Recognition In The Wild., Mostafa A. Farag

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research in face recognition deals with problems related to Age, Pose, Illumination and Expression (A-PIE), and seeks approaches that are invariant to these factors. Video images add a temporal aspect to the image acquisition process. Another degree of complexity, above and beyond A-PIE recognition, occurs when multiple pieces of information are known about people, which may be distorted, partially occluded, or disguised, and when the imaging conditions are totally unorthodox! A-PIE recognition in these circumstances becomes really “wild” and therefore, Face Recognition in the Wild has emerged as a field of research in the past few years. Its main purpose …

Improving Safety In Medical Devices From Concept To Retirements, Martin Mchugh, Fergal Mccaffery, Silvana Macmahon, Anita Finnega

Books/Book Chapters

As with many domains the use of software within the healthcare industry is on the rise [1, 2] within the last 20 years.

Mass Production Of Β-Silicon Carbide Nanofibers By The Novel Method Of Forcespinning, Alfonso Salinas

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Non-oxide Ceramics such as silicon carbide have very unique properties, for example high toughness, thermal stability, wear resistant, and thermal shock resistance these properties make these ceramic fibers excellent for high temperature applications. Here we present the development of Silicon Carbide nanofibers utilizing a Polystyrene/Polycarbomethylsilane solution as the precursor materials. The Forcespinning ® was performed under a controlled nitrogen environment to prevent fiber oxidation. Characterization was conducted using scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. The results show successful formation of high yield, long continuous bead-free nanofibers with diameters ranging from 280nm to 2 micron depending on the selected …

Thermal Analysis Of Carbon Nanofiber Reinforced Isotactic Polypropylene, Anna Alicia Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Isotactic Polypropylene (IPP) is a commonly known thermoplastic that has unique properties include being light weight, high performance, impact strength, tensile strength, elongation, and high temperature properties. The use of vapor grown carbon nanofiber (VGCNF) reinforcements on polypropylene has shown to produce high specific modulus, strength, electrical and thermal properties on specimens. Thermogravimetric (TGA) investigations on the thermal degradation of isotactic polypropylene – vapor grown carbon nanofibers composites in nitrogen were reported. The mass evolution as a function of temperature is a single sigmoid for both polypropylene and polypropylene loaded with VGCNF. The inflection temperature of these sigmoids increases as …

Higher-Order Petrov-Galerkin Methods For Analysis Of Antennas, Xueying Zhang

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A temporally and spatially high-order accurate Petrov-Galerkin finite-element method is applied to the analysis of several antenna configurations. The method obtains numerical solutions of Maxwell's equations in the time domain using implicit time stepping and introduces energy into the domain using a Gaussian pulse to allow frequency-domain parameters to be computed over a range of frequencies with a single time-dependent solution. Verification cases for a monopole antenna and a microstrip patch antenna are used to examine the accuracy of the algorithm. Effects of varying antenna parameters on subsequent performance metrics are discussed based on the results from the simulations. Post-processing …

A New Software Framework For Unstructured Mesh Representation And Manipulation, Craig R. Tanis

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This research presents a unique new software framework for representing and manipulating unstructured meshes in parallel, for use in modern scientific simulation codes. Due to the central nature of the unstructured mesh, this framework provides a variety of functionality, desirable throughout the lifecycle of an application, such as IO, parallel partitioning, phantom node data updates, adaptive refinement, derefinement and load balancing. What makes the framework unique is a focus on generality: like a database, the user provides a programmatic schema defining the structure of the mesh, including topological descriptions of the valid mesh entities. The system extracts adjacency information from …

Validation Of Interpolative Interfaces For Rotorcraft Applications, Adam L. Cofer

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The study uses computational methods to simulate fluid flow on the NASA ROBIN helicopter model and on a simplified rotor geometry previously tested at Mississippi State. The ROBIN model and the rotor are run using an unstructured grid. Results from the Tenasi flow solver are compared against both simulated and wind tunnel data. Tenasi is an unstructured, Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver developed at the SimCenter: National Center for Computational Engineering, located at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Steady-state results for the isolated ROBIN fuselage and unsteady results for both fuselage and rotor systems are computed. In the unsteady …

Stabilized Finite Elements For Compressible Turbulent Navier-Stokes, Jon Taylor Erwin

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In this research a stabilized finite element approach is utilized in the development of a high-order flow solver for compressible turbulent flows. The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations and modified Spalart-Almaras (SA) turbulence model are discretized using the streamline/upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) scheme. A fully implicit methodology is used to obtain steady state solutions or to drive unsteady problems at each time step. Order of accuracy is assessed for inviscid and viscous flows in two and three dimensions via the method of manufactured solutions. Proper treatment of curved surface geometries is of vital importance in high-order methods, especially when high aspect …

2-D Cfd Design Of The Cross-Sectional Shape Of Arterial Stents, Kristen Karman

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

An approach for desigining arterial stents to maximize wall shear stress is presented. A cost equation to maximize wall shear stress is derived and then inverted into a minimization problem for the optimizer. A 2-D mixed-element finite-volume scheme for solving the compressible Navier-Stokes equations is implemented. A paramaterization of the cross- sectional shape of the stent wire using Hicks-Henne functions is described. The strategies used in the commercial optimization software, DAKOTA, to minimize the cost equation are described. The solver is validated using well known fluid flow test cases and is shown to match other published computed results for bloodflow …

Finding The Maximum And Minimum Magnitude Responses (Gains) Of Third-Order Filters Without Calculus, Kenneth V. Cartwright, Patrick Russell, Edit J. Kaminsky

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

The maximum and minimum gains (with respect to frequency) of third-order low-pass and high-pass filters are derived without using calculus. Our method uses the little known fact that extrema of cubic functions can easily be found by purely algebraic means. PSpice simulations are provided that verify the theoretical results.

Finding The Minimum Input Impedance Of A Second-Order Unity-Gain Sallen-Key Low-Pass Filter Without Calculus, Kenneth V. Cartwright, Edit J. Kaminsky

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

We derive an expression for the input complex impedance of a Sallen-Key second-order low-pass filter of unity gain as a function of the natural frequency , o  quality factor Q and the ratio of the resistors of the filter. From this expression, it is shown that the filter behaves like a single capacitor for low frequencies and as a single resistor at high frequencies. Furthermore, the minimum input impedance magnitude is found without using calculus. We discovered that the minimum input impedance magnitude is inversely proportional to Q and can be substantially less than its highfrequency value. Approximations to …

Elementary Implantable Force Sensor For Smart Orthopaedic Implants, Rebecca A. Wachs, David Ellstein, John Drazan, Colleen P. Healey, Richard L. Uhl, Kenneth A. Connor, Eric H. Ledet

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Implementing implantable sensors which are robust enough to maintain long term functionality inside the body remains a significant challenge. The ideal implantable sensing system is one which is simple and robust; free from batteries, telemetry, and complex electronics. We have developed an elementary implantable sensor for orthopaedic smart implants. The sensor requires no telemetry and no batteries to communicate wirelessly. It has no on-board signal conditioning electronics. The sensor itself has no electrical connections and thus does not require a hermetic package. The sensor is an elementary L-C resonator which can function as a simple force transducer by using a …

Dynamic Queue Management For Hospital Emergency Room Services, Kar Way Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The emergency room (ER) – or emergency department (ED) – is often seen as a place with long waiting times and a lack of doctors to serve the patients. However, it is one of the most important departments in a hospital, and must efficiently serve patients with critical medical needs. In the existing literature, addressing the issue of long waiting times in an ED often takes the form of single-faceted queue-management strategies that are either from a demand perspective or from a supply perspective. From the demand perspective, there is work on queue design such as priority queues, or queue …

Remote/Autonomous Sentry Gun Platform, Angelo Gagliardi, Dante Gagliardi

Electrical Engineering

This senior project involves the complete system design and construction of a "Nerf" sentry gun to replace an armed guard. We aimed to develop a compact and highly mobile defense system that allows operational flexibility. The sentry gun can autonomously track and shoot at moving targets, while also allowing a user to remotely access and control the gun via computer. The mobility, hardiness, and functionality of this system allows a reliable replacement for human beings in harsh and hostile environments; ultimately sparing a life.

Influence Of Microstructure On The Propagation Of Fatigue Cracks In Inconel 617, Benjiman Michael Albiston

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Inconel 617 is a candidate material for use in the intermediate heat exchanger of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant. Because of the high temperatures and the fluctuations in stress and temperature, the fatigue behavior of the material is important to understand. The goal of this study was to determine the influences of the microstructure during fatigue crack propagation. For this investigation, Inconel 617 compact tension samples, fatigue tested by Julian Benz at the Idaho National Laboratory, were obtained. The testing conditions included two environments at 650 °C (lab air and impure-He) and varied testing parameters including: loading waveform (triangular, trapezoidal), …

Impact Of Alkaline Doping And Reducing Conditions On Lafeo3, Geoffrey L. Beausoleil

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Efficient and reliable materials for gas separation, syngas production, and hybrid nuclear power plants must be capable of reliably operating at a high-temperature range of 700-1000°C and under exposure to highly oxidizing and reducing conditions. Candidate materials for these applications include alkaline metal doped lanthanum ferrite.

In the first study, the impact of A site substitution by different alkaline metals on lanthanum ferrite (LMF, M=Ca, Sr, and Ba) was investigated. The study focused on thermal expansion near the Néel transition temperature and a magneto-elastic contribution to thermal expansion was identified for each sample. Iron oxidation, Fe³⁺ to Fe^{4+ …}

Characterization And Feasibility Of A Portable Oxygen Concentrator For Use With A Mass Casualty Ventilator, Paul Robert Williams

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The American Association for Respiratory Care has reported a need to stockpile 5,000-10,000 mass casualty ventilators with supplemental oxygen in preparation for pandemic emergencies (1). The American Medical Association specifies oxygen concentrators supply oxygen at 5 liters per minute at ≥90% purity (2). However, these design specifications may not be the most efficient use of system resources in portable oxygen concentrators using pressure swing adsorption. A testbed was developed to investigate the system performance of an oxygen concentrator while altering the system inlet and outlet pressures and flow rates. This investigation demonstrates that a more efficient portable oxygen concentrator, which …

An Integrated Multidisciplinary Nanoscience Concentration Certificate Program For Stem Education, Karen S. Martirosyan, Mikhail M. Bouniaev, Malik Rakhmanov, Ahmed Touhami, Nazmul Islam, Davood Askari, Tarek Trad, Dmitri Litvinov, Sergey E. Lyshevski

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Integration of nanoscience and nanotechnology curricula into the College of Science, Mathematics, and Technology (CSMT) at the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) is reported. The rationale for the established multidisciplinary Nanoscience Concentration Certificate Program (NCCP) is to: (i) develop nanotechnology-relevant courses within a comprehensive Science, Engineering and Technology curriculum, and, to offer students an opportunity to graduate with a certificate in nanoscience and nanotechnology; (ii) to contribute to students' success in achieving student outcomes across all college's majors, and, improve the breath, depth and quality of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates' education; (iii) through NCCP, recruit certificate- …

Unification Of The Negative Electrocaloric Effect In Bi1/2Na1/2Tio3-Batio3 Solid Solutions By Ba1/2Sr1/2Tio3 Doping, Sarir Uddin, Guang-Ping Zheng, Yaseen Iqbal, Rick Ubic, Junhe Yang

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The microscopic mechanisms of the negative electrocaloric effect (ECE) of the single-phase (1−x)(0.94Bi_1/2Na_1/2TiO₃-0.06BaTiO₃)-xBa_1/2Sr_1/2TiO₃ (BNT-BT-BST) perovskite solid solutions fabricated via the sol-gel technique are explored in this study. Dielectric and mechanical relaxation analyses are employed to investigate the ferroelectric and structural transitions of the samples. The electrocaloric properties of the samples were measured by thermodynamics Maxwell relations. The difference between the depolarization temperature (T_d) and the maximum dielectric constant temperature (T_m) was found to decrease with increasing BST content. Doping with BST stabilized the …

An Analysis On Soil Properties On Predicting Critical Hydraulic Gradients For Piping Progression In Sandy Soils, Tammy Jacobson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Piping is a form of internal erosion in which soil particles are eroded at a seepage exit location due to the forces imposed on the particles by seeping water. Laboratory testing was performed on a variety of soils in order to assess a correlation between unit weight, angle of internal friction, grain size, gradation, and void ratio and the critical hydraulic gradient at which piping initiates and progresses. A multi-variable regression analysis was used to form equations to predict critical hydraulic gradient based upon each of these soil parameters. Variations in the accuracy of these equations are thought to be …

Turbulent Kinetic Energy And Coherent Structures In A Tidal River, Stefan A. Talke, Alexander R. Horner-Devine, C. Chris Chickadel, Andrew T. Jessup

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigate the relationship between turbulence statistics and coherent structures (CS) in an unstratified reach of the Snohomish River estuary using in situ velocity measurements and surface infrared (IR) imaging. Sequential IR images are used to estimate surface flow characteristics via a particle-image-velocimetry (PIV) technique, and are conditionally sampled to delineate the surface statistics of bottom-generated CS, or boils. In the water column, we find that turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) production exceeds dissipation near the bed but is less than dissipation in the midwater column and that TKE flux divergence closes a significant portion of the measured imbalance. The surface …

Research Project Work Plan For Impact Of Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake On The Seismic Evaluation Criteria Of Bridges, Peter Dusicka

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The goal of this project is to provide ODOT with the best rational estimate of ground acceleration values for designing new and retrofitting existing bridges. The objectives are to:

• evaluate the hazard by contrasting the acceleration values from individual CSZ events to PSHA values
• provide experimental evidence of damage difference under longer duration shaking expected from CSZ event

Alternative Steel Reinforcement In Mechanically Stabilized Earth (Mse) Walls, Daniel T. Pond

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mechanically Stabilize Earth (MSE) is a method in which soil tensile strength and shear resistance is increased by using reinforcement. The traditional forms of reinforcement include bars, galvanized strips, welded wire mats or steel grids, and geosynthetics.
When steel is used as reinforcement in MSE walls, it gets corroded or decayed. Certain shapes of reinforcement will have less corrosion because less surface area is exposed. Pullout resistance is the ability to resist a tensile force. This can be affected by the design and shape of the steel. This study simulates different overburden depths or pressures for pullout resistance and evaluates …

Computer Self-Efficacy, Cognitive Actions, And Metacognitive Strategies Of High School Students While Engaged In Interactive Learning Modules, Harry Budi Santoso

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to investigate high school students’ computer self-efficacy, cognitive actions, and metacognitive strategies in a self-regulated learning (SRL) framework while utilizing an interactive learning module. The researcher hypothesized that computer self-efficacy is correlated positively with cognitive actions and metacognitive strategies while the students are engaged with interactive learning modules. This research used a mixed-methods approach to answer the research questions. Two research questions guided this research: (1) How is students’ computer self-efficacy related to cognitive actions and metacognitive strategies while using interactive learning modules?; and (2) How do students plan monitor their cognitive actions, and …

Conventional And Catalytic Pyrolysis Of Pinyon Juniper Biomass, Bhuvanesh Kumar Yathavan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Pinyon and juniper are invasive woody species which has occupied more than 47 million acres of land in Western United States. Pinyon juniper woodlands domination decreases the herbaceous vegetation, increase bare lands which in turn increases soil erosion and nutrition loss. Thus, The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has focused on harvesting these woody species to make room for herbaceous vegetation. The major application of harvested pinyon-juniper (PJ) is low value firewood. Thus, there is a need to develop new high value products from this woody biomass to reduce the cost of harvesting. In this study pyrolysis was carried …

Computer-Based Stereoscopic Parts Recognition For Robotic Applications, Ahmad A. Fayed

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Most of robotic handling and assembly operations are based on sensors such as range and touch sensors. In certain circumstances, such as in the presence of ionizing radiation where most customary sensors will degrade over time due to radiation exposure, these sensors won't function properly. Utilizing two or more cameras (stereo vision) located outside the target zone and analyzing their images to identify location and dimensions of parts within the robot workspace is an alternative for using sensors. Object Recognition is affected by the light condition which oftentimes causes the gray-scale or red, green, and blue values to have a …

Snail Algorithm For Task Allocation In Mesh Networks, Bartosz Duszel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Topic of this master's thesis is connected with task allocation algorithms and mesh networks. Author of this work has already graduated from Wroclaw, University of Technology (Poland) where during his studies he created software simulation environment for two different task allocation algorithms for mesh networks:Adaptive ScanandFrame Sliding. Those algorithms were compared by two, main parame- ters: simulation time and average mesh fulfillment (utilization level). All simulations were done in software environment which was developed specially for that research. This application was based on few, different types of objects: task (width, height, processing time), task queue (different number of tasks), task …

Experimental And Finite Element Studies Of Shock Transmission, Eldon Jerry Goddard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Composite materials are more widely used today in engineering products than ever before. Shock transmission in jointed composite sections needs to be investigated to understand the affect of composite materials on the dynamic response of the system. There exists limited published work on transient shock propagation through composite sections. The aim of this study is to analyze the transient behavior of joints in composite materials subjected to low impact loads and to develop a computational model that provides an improved physics based shock model. The jointed connection will be investigated experimentally and using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The bolted joint …

Feasibility Of The Use Of Ultrasound Measurements For Grade Verification Of The Performance Grade Asphalt Binders, Mehdi Khalili

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research investigates the feasibility of application of high frequency immersion ultrasonic measurement (UM) to discriminate different performance grade (PG) asphalt binders. PG asphalt binder is one of the main components of hot mix asphalt used for roadway construction. UT may provide an inexpensive alternative to sophisticated tests currently used for quality control of PG asphalt binders. Nine different PG asphalt binders used were selected for this investigation. Velocity (V) and integrated response (IR) of the ultrasonic wave were measured. The IR is a measure of the ratio of ultrasonic energy transmitted into the material to the ultrasonic energy reflected …

Nonlinear Adaptive Diffusion Models For Image Denoising, Ajay Kumar Mandava

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Most of digital image applications demand on high image quality. Unfortunately, images often are degraded by noise during the formation, transmission, and recording processes. Hence, image denoising is an essential processing step preceding visual and automated analyses. Image denoising methods can reduce image contrast, create block or ring artifacts in the process of denoising. In this dissertation, we develop high performance non-linear diffusion based image denoising methods, capable to preserve edges and maintain high visual quality. This is attained by different approaches: First, a nonlinear diffusion is presented with robust M-estimators as diffusivity functions. Secondly, the knowledge of textons derived …